I’ve just landed in beautiful Germany and I’m about to start on a whirlwind tour of four German cities, bringing to our supporters here news of our latest rescue. The appalling condition of many of the bears has made us more determined than ever to spread the word about the terrible trade in bile.

This week, I’ll be joining our lovely Christa, Chee-Meng and Christine at the roadshow in Germany – and of course there will be plenty to update our generous and kind-hearted German supporters with. They, like our other loyal supporters around the world, have stayed with us in faith and support since we began this “journey” eight years ago.

I’m leaving Chengdu today with a heavy heart and flying to Germany for presentations next week. It’s always sad to say goodbye to the bears and team – and this time is particularly hard. It’s been a tough few weeks for us all.

The poly-tunnels - our quarantine area - are fast becoming a place of smiles. Many of the bears are visibly changing from the skinny and suspicious - and often understandably aggressive - arrivals of just two weeks ago.

Just a quick update on the visit to the sanctuary by Madam Yang Baijin, the new Secretary General of the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Madam Yang – accompanied by Mr Li Qingwen, Vice Secretary General of the CWCA – flew from Beijing on Friday at our request to see for herself the appalling state in which the 28 bears arrived.

It’s now two weeks since our 28 bears escaped their hellish existence on a farm. Sadly, for 11 of those bears, escape meant a premature death and no chance to experience the freedom and love that we so much wanted to give them.

Eleven of the 28 bears are now dead – every one of them a victim of the free-drip method of bile extraction, touted as humane by the farmers (and some officials), every one of them suffering indescribable pain for so, so long.

This has been a busy weekend away from the China sanctuary for our General Manager (and chief government negotiator) Toby, and me. We flew to Beijing to meet urgently with our central government partners, the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), a department directly under the State Forestry Administration.